Author: Lucy Feickert
The annual Up ’til Dawn event held Friday night raised awareness and nearly $4,000 for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. St. Jude is a research hospital in Memphis, Tenn. working to find a cure for childhood cancer and support families through treatment. At Occidental, Up ’til Dawn, also a student club on campus hosts an event annually for students to learn about and raise money for the hospital.
Psychology major Jenny Craig (junior), who is leader of the club’s e-board and was also involved last year explained how the event changed this year.
“This year’s event is completely different from the event in previous years, and this is a really exciting change that is happening nationally on all campuses with Up ’til Dawn Clubs,” Craig said via email. “Instead of our main event being a letter writing event, we now have online fundraising that teams participate in before coming to the event.”
According to Craig, the changes in the format allowed students to ask friends and family to donate before the event, which fostered competition between teams. The event started at midnight and had planned to run until 6 a.m so students would be literally up until dawn. Instead, it ended around 3 a.m., as all the planned activities were completed earlier than expected, according to Wegner.
As in the past, club members worked with other groups on campus to make the event fun and enjoyable for participants.
“A lot of people who showed up for the exciting kick-off performances,” e-board member and undeclared major Erin Wegner (sophomore) said.
According to Wegner, student participation was lower this year than in the past. Two of the 12 or more teams present stayed to the end of the event.
“I think a good amount of students were [supportive], I don’t think on a whole Oxy students were quite ready for it, but we were aware that it was new, and it’s going to take some time for a transition,” Wegner said.
Despite a lower turnout than they would have liked, Wegner and Craig both expressed the significance of the event on campus.
“I think this is an important event at Oxy because traditionally it has been one of the biggest philanthropy on campus in the Fall,” Craig said via email. “It is also important to a lot of Oxy students because Up ’til Dawn fundraises for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, which is a great cause that a lot of people can really identify with.”
In the future, Wegner hopes that the event will grow on campus and gain more student interest.
“I hope to see a lot more participants,” Wegner said. “Honestly I have a lot of faith that it will be an event that you don’t want to miss.”
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